Apparatus for shrinking and pressing collars



A. MOSES APPARATUS FOR SHRINKING AND PRESSING COLLARS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 22, 1950 Filed May 27, 1948 INVEN TOR. 4004; Mass.

HTTORNEY,

Aug. 22, 1950 A. MOSES 2,519,975

APPARATUS FOR SHRINKING. AND PRESSING COLLARS Filed May 27, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 f t\ Ra N INVENTOR. 140041 4/0555. BY Am ATTORNEY Aug. 22, 1950 A. MOSES APPARATUS FOR SHRINKING AND PRESSING COLLARS Filed May 27, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 m INVENTOR flpauw 4/0455.

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A MOSES APPARATUS FOR SHRINKING AND PRES SING COLLARS Aug. 22, 1950 Filed May 27, 1948 Patented Aug. 22, 1950 arr BER-b FATENT @FFi-QE APPARATUS FOR SHRINKING AND PRESSING CQLLARS 21 Claims. 1

This invention relates to apparatus for shrinking and pressing collars, particularly collars attached to shirts. While it is intended primarily for operation on such collars, it may be employed for shrinking and pressing separate collars, replacement collars, and other articles of apparel or garment parts.

It is known that in the manufacture of collars and of shirts of the collar attached type, the collar should be shrunk to its rated size before it is finally pressed so as to obviate shrinking when the collar is subsequently laundered after use. It has been found that unless collars are so treated they will shrink when laundered even if they are made from pre-shrunk fabric, especially if they are of the type in which the plies are fused together in the manufacture of the collars.

I am aware that apparatus has been proposed to shrink and press collars, such for example as disclosed in Patents Nos. 2,319,210 and 2,319,211. However, the prior art apparatus has been subject to a number of objections, the principal ones being that they do not effect a uniform shrinkage throughout the length of the collar, that they do not afford suflicient shrinkage, that they require frequent replacement of the padding and springs, that the extent of shrinkage varies considerably in use of the apparatus requiring frequent adjustment, and that they are not easily adjustable to correct such variations.

Having in mind the defects of the prior art apparatus, it is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus that will give uniform shrinkage throughout the length of the collar, or throughout the portions thereof that are to be shrunk.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus in which the degree of shrinkage is not affected by variations in the padding.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus in which the degree of shrinkage may be easily controlled.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus inwhich the shrinkage to be applied to the collar may be quickly adjusted or changed.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of sturdy construction, that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and main I tain, and that is convenient and economical to operate.

These objects are achieved by means of a heated press comprising, as usual, a head or upper pressing member and a buck or lower pressing member cooperating therewith; but the'buck, instead of being rigidly mounted on the base, is movable relative to said base substantially in the same direction as the direction of travel of the head relative to the buck; moreover, said buck carries a collapsible bed which may comprise a plurality of flat springs, which collapsible bed is shortened 0r collapsed by the relative movement of the buck and the base caused by pressure of the head. The extent to which the collapsible bed is shortened is positively determined and mechanically controlled and does not depend on changes occurring in arcuate surfaces. In fact, a preferred embodiment of my invention is one in which the co-acting surfaces of the head and buck are plane.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description of the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a front view in elevation of the apparatus applied to a conventional collar press, the press being shown only in part;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus and press, viewed from the left side;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-4 of Fig. 8 showing the buck or lower pressing member in raised position, and the spring bars in expanded condition;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of the buck taken on the line 3-4 of Fig. 3 with the padding removed and parts broken away, showing the spring bars that effect the shrinkage;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the spring bars;

Fig. 5a is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the spring bars showing gripping mean in the bar;

Fig. 5b is a perspective view of two pairs of bars showing another embodiment of the gripping means;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary end view of one of the center bars;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section of a part of the apparatus showing the buck in lowered position and the spring bars in contracted condition; and,

Fig. 8 is a vertical section of the apparatus taken on the line 8-B of Fig. 4.

The apparatus is designed for attachment to a conventional collar press, which press has a sta tionary bed in and swingable arms ii that are pivoted at E2 to uprights E3 on the bed, and that are operated by means which include the toggle HIL'CS M and Ma. The press itself is well known in the art and does not constitute a part of the present invention except in association with the apparatus herein described.

The apparatus, in general, comprises a head l5 that is suitably secured to the press-arms H to move therewith, and a buck it that is supported to move down and up, to a controlled limited extent, in a frame I! that is fixed to the pressbed 10.

The head i5 has a flat pressing surface that is heated in any suitable manner. As shown, the head has an internal chamber l8 through which steam passes.

The buck 26 has a smooth, fiat, upper face or surface [9 which is suitably heated, as for example by the steam chamber 25. The buck is carried on the center shaft 25 to move bodily downward as it is contacted by the head i5 during the downward stroke of the latter. The shaft is supported for vertical movement in the enlarged central portion or boss 22 of frame ii. The buck can move downward until its lower surface portion 23 abuts against the top face 2 3 of the boss 22, as seen in Fig. '7, at which time the buck is held stationary during application of the maximum pressure of the head 55 against it. A helical spring 25, or like resilient element, is disposed between the buck and frame to raise, or assist in raising, the buck to its initial upper position as the head [5 is lifted out of contact with the buck. The spring 25 is preferably assembled with predetermined initial load. Guide-rods or studs 25 may be provided at the end portions of the buck to guide and to guard against rotation in its vertical movement, which rods carry adjustable nuts 2? at their lower end.

At the center of the buck is a fixed plate 28 having an apron or extended portion 29 on which the yoke of the shirt, the collar of which is to be shrunk and pressed, is supported while being pressed. Extending outwardly from each side of the center plate 28 are a plurality of spring bars 30, which constitute the collapsible bed mentioned above. These bars rest and slide on the flat upper surface ill of the buck between the cap strips 3|, with the ends of the bars normally spaced slightly inward from the cap strips to permit the bars to deflect and straighten during the shrinking operation, as will hereinafter be described. The spring bars 30, as well as the spring 25, are preferably under initial loads when the buck is in its initial or upper position. These initial loads determine the normal grip force at the start of the shrinking operation. At the end of this operation the normal grip force will be increased by the increment loads on the spring bars 30 and the spring 25 which increment it is desirable to hold relatively low. The bars are held in place by longitudinal lips or shoulders 32 that overlap the ends of the bars. The upper sur face of the bars is flush with the upper surface of the center plate 28. In the form or press illustrated in the accompanying drawings there are twenty-four spring bars disposed at each side of the plate 28. The number of bars may, however, be varied depending upon the size and arrangement of the individual bars, and also upon the extent of shrinking and pressing surface desired. In the form shown, the three center bars at each side of the plate 28 are formed with a shoulder or notch 33 at one end (see Fig. 6) to extend under the edge of apron or extended portion 29 of the plate 28.

The spring bars 3!) may be rectangular or of other suitable cross-section, and they may be made of any suitable material, such as stainless spring steel. Each bar is initially bent or curved from its center point 34 towards its ends 35, as seen in Fig. 5, and is so disposed on the buck that on one side of the bar it has end contact with the adjacent member while on the opposite side of the bar it has center contact with the adjacent bar. In other Words, having reference to Fig. 4, it will be seen that the first and second bar immediately to the left of the plate 28 contact each other at their center points while the second and the third bar contact each other at their ends, and so on throughout. When this collapsible bed is compressed to its maximum compression, the bars are flattened so that they make approximately side-by-side contact with each other. However, the actual state of compression is determined by conditions existing when surfaces 23 and 24 are in contact. Although not necessary, it is desirable that side-by-side contact of the bars be approached when the extreme position of the buck is reached. The bars themselves may be subject to a wide variety of different forms and arrangement, the essential feature being that they provide a surface that will substantially uniformly contract in length upon application of pressure to the end bars.

Disposed at the outer end of each of the series of spring bars is a sliding wedge member 36 each of whose inner ends bears against an outermost spring bar 3!]. These wedge members 36 slide in the groove formed by the cap strips 31 in the same manner as the spring bars themselves do. These wedge members 36 each have an inclined face 3'! that rides on the corresponding inclined face 38 of the fixed member 32 supported on the frame member ll. Hence when the buck is moved downward relative to the base the sliding wedge members 36 are forced inwardly and thereby effect flexure of the spring bars 30 and shortening of the collapsible bed which the spring bars constitute.

The entire upper surface formed by the two series of spring bars 38 and the fixed center plate 28 are covered with a suitable padding 4!] which may be of the kind commonly used in the art. The frictional contact of the padding with the bars may not always be sufficient to insure that the padding will move with the contracting and expanding movement of the bars to the same extent that the bars themselves move. It is desirable that the top surface of the bars be roughened so as to insure that the movement of the padding will follow the movement of the bars with a sufiicient degree of accuracy and/or consistency. For example, the bars may be provided with a plurality of spikes 30' as shown in Fig. 5a. A preferred means for insuring that the travel of the padding corresponds with the travel of the bars is shown in Fig. 51). Between each pair of bars 30 is a thin strip of metal 39 provided with teeth 30 extending above the bars 30, the strips 30 being much thinner than the bars 30. These strips 30 will follow the motion of the bar with maximum departure therefrom allowed by the narrow space between the bars either at the center thereof or at the ends thereof, as the case may be. Since these spaces are very small (preferably of the order of a; of an inch), the discrepancies between motion of bars 30 and strips 30 are entirely negligible. The strips 30 have the additional advantage that they reduce the width of the spaces between the bars and hence insure that the padding 40 will not wedge down between the bars. The teeth 36 on strips 30 insure that the padding will 5, follow the strips, and hence the bars, in their displacement.

A cover cloth M is appliedover the upper surface of the padding. The cloth is stretched taut while the buck is in its raised position, shown in Fig. 3, that is in position with the spring bars in expanded condition. While so Stretched, the ends of the cloth are caught on pins 52 projecting outwardly from the cross-bar 43that is secured at its ends to the outwardly extending arms of the sliding wedge members 36. Fixed guard-bars 45 may be provided to safeguard the operator from contact with the pins.

The degree of deflective movement of each spring bar 30, as well as the extent that each series of spring bars can contract, and consequently the total amount of shrinkage to be applied to the collar, may be controlled by adjusting the startingposition of the buck. By the term starting position is meant the raised position that the buck can assume when the head it is completelyout of contact with it. As hereinbefore described, the downward movement of the buck is limited by contact of the lower surface portion '23 of the buck it against the top face 24 of the frame-boss or hub 22. The maximum upward movement of the buck is determined by the nuts 2'! on the guide rods or studs 26. When the buck is in the uppermost position allowed by these nuts, the wedge members Eli-will be in their extreme outer position and the spring bars 30 will be in their position of maximum expansion. This does not mean, however, that they will be under no force; the bars will still have the initial deflection imposed at assembly. Now,

however, if the permissible upward movement of the buck is adjusted so that its starting position is lower than its fully raised position, the spring bars 30 will initially be in a more deflected or contracted configuration; thus when the suck is moved to its lowest possible position (determined by contact of surface 23 with surface at) by the pressure of the head iii, the total collapsing movement of the collapsible bed will be decreased so as to decrease the extent of effective shrinkage that will be appiied to the coliar. In short, the amount of contraction of the sprin bars may be varied by regulating the starting (i. e. uppermost) position of the buck.

While the nuts 2? serve as a convenient means of limiting the extreme upward travel of the buck relative to the frame member ii, nevertheless they do not offer the most convenient means of adjustment. For the sake of convenience of making this adjustment, means may be provided as shown mostclearly' in Fig. 8. The shaft 21 which is fastened to the center of the buck l6 and slides in the center of the boss 22 when the buck is moved vertically, may be provided with a recess-49 having an inclined surface 43 which is adapted to contact the end of the adjusting screw 4-6 threaded at 41 in a part of the boss or hub 22 of the frame member ii. The upward travel of the shaft 2i and hence of the buck 18' is limited by this abutment of the surfacelii against the end of the adjusting screw 46-. By turning the knob 50 fastened to the adjusting screw 45, the upper limit of travel is easily and conveniently regulated. The knob may be graduatedto indicate various degrees of shrink ing, and a plate 5i fixed to frame l? adjacent the graduations on the knob 58 may be provided to facilitate the setting of the knob. In order to lock the adjusting screw iii in the position to which it is set, a lockpin 52 is provided that 6. is adapted to be pressed .into good frictional contact with the adjusting screw 48 by means of a spring 53 and screw 54.

In accordance with usual practice, alignment of 'tl'ie buck relative to the head may be automaticallyprovided by means of a ball member 56 as shown in Fig. 2 which rests in a recessin the bed Ill. Supported on this ball is a plate 55' which is'held down by means of screws 5? and springs 58. The frame member I] is in turn supported on the plate 55 as, for example, by means of screws 2.2a passing through theboss 22, which part of the frame member ll.

In operation of the apparatus, the dampened collar is laid out flat lengthwise on the cover cloth ofthe buck padding, and the press-head is then swung down against the buck. The shrinking and pressing actions take place in two stages. The first is the shrinking stage in which thecollar-isrshrunk to its rated size or desired finished length, and the second is the pressing stage in which the shrunk collar is subjected to final pressing. The first stage occurs while the buck is moving downward. During this stage the spring bars contract or deflect to shrink the collar uniformly from its points or ends towards its center or middle portion. The only appreciable resistance to' downward movement of the buck, in this stage, is'thatofiered by compression of the spring and deflection of the spring bars 38, and by friction. The textile cover of the back has a greater frictional grip on the lower side of the collar than has the polished surface of'the' head which is in contact with the upper side of the collar. Hencea's'the bars contract, .and carry with them the padding All and the co'ver cloth 4], theco'llar'will likewise be carried along, i. 6;, it will be shrunk as the bars contract; the relatively low friction between the collar and the head l5 will not materially impede themovement-and hence the shrinkage of the collar.

The' 'press is designed in such a manner that when'the buck is'in its extreme upper position its upward thrust is of a minimum degree to produce suflicient grip on the collar. shrinking process will start as soon as the spring bars under the collar start to contract.

The final or pressing stage occurs after the buck has reached its'bottom position. At that time the full maximum pressure of the head is developed on the buck, and is kept applied until the collar has been pressed to dryness and set in its shrunken state.

In any machine of this character, there is a tendency to re-stretch the collar when the movement of the various parts is reversed by raising the head. In this invention, however, this re-stre-tch'ing tendency is practically eliminated. Vfhen the head starts to move upward away from the collar, the pressure between it and the collar very rapidly reduces the spring pressure exerted by the bars 30 and the spring 25 will not begin to push the buck upward immediatelyon reduction of pressure between head and buck because of frictional forces in the various parts. Inshort, there will be a delay between the release of pressure on the buck and the expansion of the collapsible bed. This delay allows the pressure between the collar and the cover cloth-to be reduced before expansion of the bed begins so that when the expansion actually takes place there is relatively little pressure between the collar and the cover cloth.

It will be understood that 'the'mechanism shown Thus the in Fig. 2 may be of any standard or convenient form comprising springs 59 to assist in the rapid raising of the head 15.

The initial grip on the collar is determined by the sum of the initial compression forces on the spring bars 30 and the force due to spring 25. The latter is preferably made relatively light and under suitable circumstances may be eliminated altogether, the pressure due to the spring bars 30 being sufiicient to raise the buck when the head is lifted off it.

Various modifications and changes may be made, in the apparatus herein shown and described, within the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In apparatus for shrinking and pressing an article of apparel, the combination with a presser head, of a buck, one movable to the other, a plurality of contractile spring elements supported on the face of the buck for contraction longitudinally thereof to provide a contractible foundation for the article to be shrunk and pressed, means for providing predetermined pressure between said presser head and said buck and means acting on said spring elements to contract them substantially uniformly.

2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, including additional means for initiating the operation of the contracting means after predetermined pressure between the presser head and the buck has been provided.

3. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, including means for immediate decreasing of the grip on the collar during the opening stroke between buck and head.

4. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, including means for performing the shrinking operation at an appreciably lower pressure on the collar than that applied during the pressing operation.

5. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, including a padding supported on the foundation to contract and expand therewith and means for performing the contraction and expansion independent of the vertical compression of the padding.

6. In apparatus for shrinking and pressing an article of apparel, the combination with a presser head. of a buck movable upon contact with the presser head, a plurality of contractile spring elements supported on the face of the buck for contraction longitudinally thereof to provide a contractable foundation for the article to be shrunk and pressed, means acting on said spring elements to contract them substantially uniformlv during the movement of the buck, and means for controllabiy adjusting the extent of contraction of said pring elements.

7. In apparatus for shrinking and pressing collars, the combination with a presser head, of a buck movable upon contact with the presser head, a plurality of bowed spring bars on the buck each of which contacts the adjacent bar on one side at its ends and on the other side at its center, and means disposed adjacent to the outermost bars adapted to bear against said bars to contract all of them uniformly during movement of the buck.

8. In apparatus for shrinking and pressing collars, the combination with a presser head, of a buck movable upon contact with the presser head, a plurality of bowed spring bars each of which contacts the adjacent bar on one side at its ends and one the other side at its center, means adapted to bear against said bars to contract all of the bars substantially uniformly during the movement of the buck, and a means for adjusting the starting position from which the buck moves to vary the extent of contraction of the spring bars.

9. In apparatus for shrinking and pressing collars, the combination with a presser head, of a buck movable upon contact with the presser head, a plurality of bowed spring bars each of which contacts the adjacent bar on one side at its ends and on the other side at its center, wedges movably supported on the buck and means for slidably moving the wedges inwardly on movement of the buck to contract all of said bars substantially uniformly.

10. The combination with a collar press, of a presser head having a flat lower surface, buck having a fiat upper surface, said buck being mounted on the press to move downward with the presser head on contact therewith, a plurality of initially deflected resilient elements having fiat opposing surfaces and having portions thereof substantially in contact with each other mounted on the upper surface of the buck and extending crosswise thereof, said elements providing a lengthwise contractable foundation for the collars to be shrunk and pressed, and means acting on said resilient elements to contract them substantially uniformly during the downward move m nt of the buck.

11.. The combination with a collar press, of a presser head having a flat lower surface, a buck having a upper surface, said buck being mounted on the press to move downward with the presser head on contact therewith, a plurality of initially deflected resilient elements having portions thereof substantially in contact with each other mounted on the upper surface of the buck extending crosswise thereof, said elements providing a lengthwise contractable foundation for the collars to be shrunk and pressed, means acting on said resilient elements to contract them substantially uniformly durlng the downward movement of the buck, and means for adjustably controlling the extent of contraction of said resilient members.

12. In apparatus for shrinking and pressing collars, a buck mounted to move down and up, a series of resilient elements supported on the upper surface of the buck and extending crosswise thereof, each pair of said elements having portions substantially in contact with each other and other portions separated from each other, said elements providing a lengthwise contractible foundation for the collars to be shrunk and pressed, and means acting on said resilient elements during the downward movement of the buck to decrease the distance between the separated portions of each pair of said elements substantially unifor lily so as to contract the length of the foundation and thereby shrink the collars prior to final pressing thereof.

13. In apparatus for shrinking and pressing collars, a buck mounted to move down and up, a series of resilient elements supported on the upper surface of the buck and extending crosswise thereof, each pair of said elements having portions substantially in contact with each other and other portions separated from each other, said elements providing a lengthwise contractible foundation for the collars to be shrunk and pressed, means for providing a predetermined initial grip on said resilient elements so as to provide a predetermined initial length of the foundation, and means acting on said resilient elements during the downward movement of the buck to decrease the distance between the separated portions of each pair of said elements substantially uniformly so as to contract further the length of the foundation and thereby shrink the collars prior to final pressing thereof.

14. In apparatus for shrinking and pressing collars, a buck mounted to move down and up, a series of resilient elements supported on the upper surface of the buck and extending crosswise thereof, each pair of said elements having portions substantially in contact with each other and other portions separated from each other, said elements providing a lengthwise contractible foundation for the collars to be shrunk and pressed, and means actuated by the downward movement of the buck to decrease the distance between the separated portions of each pair of said elements substantially uniformly so as to contract the length of the foundation and thereby shrink the collars prior to final pressing thereof.

15. In apparatus for shrinking and pressing collars, a buck mounted to move down and up, a series of resilient elements supported on the upper surface of the buck and extending crosswise thereof, each pair of said elements having portions substantially in contact with each other and other portions separated from each other, said elements providing a substantially flat contractable and expansible foundation, a padding supported on the foundation to contract and expand therewith, and means acting on the resilient elements during the downward movement of the buck to decrease the distance between the separated portions of each pair of said elements substantially uniformly so as to contract the length of the padding and foundation and thereby shrink the collars prior to final pressing.

16. The apparatus as set forth in claim 15, in which the resilient elements include means for insuring of substantially simultaneous contracting and expanding movement, respectively, of the padding with the resilient elements.

17. The apparatus as set forth in claim 15, including a plurality of spike members extending from the resilient elements into the padding in order to insure simultaneous contracting and expanding movement, respectively, of the padding with the resilient elements.

18. The apparatus as set forth in claim 15, including a metal strip inserted between each pair of adjacent resilient elements and having teeth extending above the surface of the said resilient elements into the padding in order to insure substantially simultaneous contracting and expanding movement, respectively, of the padding with the resilient elements.

19. In apparatus for shrinking and pressing collars, a buck mounted to move down and up, a series of resilient elements supported on the upper surface of the buck and extending crosswise thereof, each pair of said elements having portions substantially in contact with each other and other portions separated from each other, said elements providing a substantially flat contractable and expansible foundation, a padding supported on the foundation to contract and expand therewith, means acting on the resilient elements during the downward movement of the buck to decrease the distance between the separated portions of each pair of said elements substantially uniformly so as to contract the length of the padding and foundation and thereby shrink the collars prior to final pressing thereof, and means for adjusting the starting position from which the buck moves downward to vary the extent of contraction of said resilient elements.

20. Apparatus for shrinking and pressing collars, comprising a presser head, a buck mounted to move downward with the presser head on contact therewith, resilient means acting on the buck to hold it normally in a predetermined starting position, a series of spring bars supported on the upper surface of the buck and extending crosswise thereof, each pair of said bars having portions that substantially contact each other and other portions that are separated from each other, said bars providing a lengthwise contractable and expansible foundation, a padding supported on the foundation to contract and expand therewith, wedges movably supported on the buck in contact with the outermost of the spring bars, means for slidably moving the wedges inwardly against the spring bars to contract said bars substantially uniformly, and means for adjusting the starting position from which the buck moves downward to vary the extent of contraction of said spring bars.

21. Apparatus for shrinking and pressing col-' lars, comprising a presser head, a buck mounted to move downward with the presser head on contact therewith, resilient means acting on the buck to hold it normally in a predetermined starting position, a series of spring bars supported on the upper surface of the buck and extending crosswise thereof, each pair of said bars having portions that'substantially contact each other and other portions that are separated from each other, said bars providing a lengthwise contractable and expansible foundation, a padding supported on the foundation to contract and expand therewith, wedges movably supported on the buck in contact with the outermost of the spring bars, means for slidably moving the wedges inwardly against the spring bars during the downward movement of the buck to contract said bars substantially uniformly, and means for adjusting the starting position from which the buck moves downward to Vary the extent of contraction of said spring bars.

ADOLPH MOSES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,022,176 Baldwin Nov. 26, 1936 2,246,251 Hanney June 17, 1941 2,319,211 Cluett et al May 18, 1943 

